Penn & Teller did a decent job of digging into this a while back on Bullshit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVBFIciqGU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVBF

Penn & Teller did a decent job of digging into this a while back on Bullshit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVBFIciqGU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVBFIciqGU Basically some things are worth recycling (aluminum), some things break even (plastic/glass), and others are a terrible idea to recycle (paper). I would love to see a similar look into the composting movement that's going on now. My suspicion is that it's a terrible idea due to the methane emissions. In landfills the methane can be captured and used for generating power (Yes this still creates CO2, but that's not nearly as powerful a greenhouse gas as methane.)